KEY LARGO — A permit to build a McDonald’s on the Dollar Tree and Island Market Place property has just moved one step closer to being approved by Monroe County. If all goes as planned, the property owner would like construction of the fast-food restaurant to begin in January.

MARATHON — Fishermen’s Community Hospital Chief Executive Officer Hal Leftwich resigned from his position last week after five years on the job.
His decision to leave comes on the heels of the facility announcing a likely merger with Baptist Health South Florida in 2017.

BIG PINE KEY — As a backup plan to prevent species extinction, a federal agency has started harvesting reproductive organs from dead Key deer. The animals, only found in the Lower Keys, suffered a heavy blow to their population over the last few months from the flesh-eating New World screwworm.